New Haven Police Double Up After Shooting In New York

New Haven Police Chief: “There was no place I wanted to be but with my officers last night.”

NEW HAVEN – Police Chief Dean Esserman decided it was best to be with his officers Saturday night, following news out of New York City that two officers were shot to death while sitting in their patrol car.

"There was no place I wanted to be but with my officers last night," Esserman said on Sunday. "I know how concerned their family and friends would be."

Esserman said he was at the department for midnight roll call, and he and fellow officers observed a moment of silence for Rafael Ramos, 40, and Wenjian Liu, 32, who died Saturday afternoon. Ramos and Liu were shot by Ismaaiyl Abdula Brinsley, 28, who posted on Instagram that he planned to be "putting wings on pigs," police said Saturday.

Sunday morning, a veteran Florida police officer was shot and killed while on duty in Tarpon Springs, northwest of Tampa, but law enforcement officials provided no details about the suspect in custody or motive for the shooting.

"It's been a very sobering experience," Esserman said. "As officers, we take an oath to put our life on the line and something like this only makes those words more real. Those officers were ambushed and assassinated because they were in a uniform."

Esserman decided, after receiving support from Mayor Toni Harp and alderman Jorge Perez, that it was best for officers to "double up" Saturday night. Esserman said the department will "take it day by day."

"I told the officers that there's no threats in New Haven, no threats in Connecticut for that matter," Esserman said Sunday morning. "I told them that I knew their families must be worried but I wanted them to know they are respected and embraced by the community."